U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/199,768 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,587,405) entitled xe2x80x9cLINEAR OPTICAL DISK CHANGER WITH SIDE SWITCHING CAPABILITIES,xe2x80x9d filed Nov. 25, 1998, contains related subject matter.
The present invention is directed toward an apparatus and method for automatically accessing both sides of an optical disk.
Data of various types is recorded on and accessed from optical disks. Common optical disks include compact disks (CDs), CD-ROMs, digital versatile disks (DVDs), digital video disks (also abbreviated DVDs), or other similar disks. Some optical disks, such as DVDs, may be either single-sided or dual-sided. With conventional optical disk changers, a dual-sided optical disk must be manually xe2x80x9cflippedxe2x80x9d between sides in order to read data from both sides of the disk.
Three general types of optical disk changers capable of storing and reading multiple disks are known. In the first type, a number of disks are positioned coplanar to one another and radially about a center rotation point on a carrousel. To read any one disk, the carrousel is rotated until the desired disk is positioned adjacent to the disk reader. To read another disk, the present disk is disengaged from the reader and the carrousel is rotated to position another disk adjacent to the disk reader. However, such optical disk changers read only one side of a disk. Thus, operator intervention is required to flip the disk to allow the disk reader to read the opposite side of the disk.
The second type of multiple disk changer stores optical disks in a stack with the center of each disk coaxial with the centers of the other disks. A disk to be read is rotated or translated out from the stack and engaged by a disk reader. Just as with the first type of multiple disk changer, the changer can read only one side of a disk unless the disk is manually flipped by a user.
The third type of multiple disk changer stores optical disks radially about a center rotation point on a carrousel, but with the rotational axis of each optical disk perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the carrousel. The resulting geometry of the plurality of stored disks is a toroid or xe2x80x9cdonutxe2x80x9d shape. A disk from the carrousel is read by ejecting the disk from the carrousel into a disk reader. Examples of this third type of multiple disk changer are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,519,055, 5,067,116, 5,235,579, 5,615,184, 6,671,196, 5,719,725, and 5,754,502. These changers can only read one side of the optical disk unless the user manually flips the disk.
Therefore, although the prior art is capable of storing a large number of optical disks, the prior art does not provide an apparatus or method for reading both sides of a optical disk without manual operator intervention. Consequently, there is a need for an apparatus and method for automatically reading both sides of an optical disk by effectively flipping a dual-sided disk.
One embodiment of the invention is an optical disk changer for reading a first and a second side of an optical disk. The disk changer includes: a base; a carrousel rotationally coupled to said base for receiving, holding, and delivering the optical disk; and an optical disk reader attached to said base within said carrousel. The optical disk reader has a first loading mechanism on a first side of said reader and a second loading mechanism on a second side of said reader. The first loading mechanism loads the optical disk when the first side of the optical disk is read and the second loading mechanism loads the optical disk when the second side of the optical disk is read.
Another embodiment of the invention is a method of translating an optical disk having a first side and a second side. The method includes holding the optical disk in a carrousel. If data from the first side of the optical disk is to be read, then the optical disk is translated to a location within the carrousel in a first direction. If data from the second side of the optical disk is to be read, then the optical disk is translated to the location in a direction opposite to the first direction.
Another embodiment of the invention is a method of reading data from an optical disk comprising: holding the optical disk in a carrousel; delivering the optical disk from the carrousel to a location within the carrousel by translating the optical disk in a first direction; reading data from a first side of the optical disk; delivering the optical disk from the location to the carrousel by translating the optical disk in the first direction; rotating the carrousel; loading the optical disk from the carrousel to the location within the carrousel by translating the optical disk in the first direction; and reading data from a second side of the optical disk.
Another embodiment of the invention is an optical disk changer for reading a first and a second side of at least one optical disk comprising: a base; a carrousel rotationally coupled to said base for receiving, holding, and delivering at least one optical disk; an optical disk reader attached to said base outside of said carrousel; and a transfer mechanism coupled to said base within said carrousel. The transfer mechanism has a first loading mechanism on a first side of said transfer mechanism for loading the optical disk into said transfer mechanism and a second loading mechanism on a second side of said transfer mechanism for loading the optical disk into said carrousel.
Yet another embodiment of the invention is a method of reading data from an optical disk comprising: holding the optical disk in a carrousel; if data from the first side of the optical disk is to be read, then delivering the optical disk to an optical reader and reading the data; and if data from the second side of the optical disk is to be read, then delivering the optical disk to a transfer mechanism along a first direction, delivering the optical disk to the carrousel along the first direction, delivering the optical disk to the optical reader, and reading the data.
Still another embodiment of the invention is an optical disk changer for reading a first and a second side of an optical disk comprising: a base; a carrousel rotationally coupled to said base for receiving, holding, and delivering the optical disk; an optical disk turner rotationally coupled to said base within said carrousel for turning the optical disk, said turner having a first loading mechanism on a first side of said turner and a second loading mechanism on a second side of said turner, the first loading mechanism for loading the optical disk into said turner and the second loading mechanism for loading the optical disk into said carrousel after said turner has been rotated relative to said carrousel; and an optical disk reader attached to said base outside of said carrousel for reading the first side of the optical disk, and for reading the second side of the optical disk that has been turned by said optical disk turner.
Another embodiment of the invention is a method of reading data from an optical disk comprising: holding the optical disk in a carrousel; if data from the first side of the optical disk is to be read, then delivering the optical disk to an optical reader and reading the data; and if data from the second side of the optical disk is to be read, then delivering the optical disk to a turning mechanism, rotating the optical disk, delivering the optical disk to the carrousel, delivering the optical disk to the optical reader, and reading the data.